Shuffle Songfic Challenge
by Paint-The-World-Mad
Summary: Challenge where you turn your iPod on shuffle and write a ficlet for each of the first ten songs (you can only write for the duration of the song, so they're short). The theme changes for every chapter I post. current pairings are USUK, 2p!Italy/2p!HRE, GerIta, PruCan, and FrUK
1. USUK

My little sister and I challenged each other to do this, so then this happened. like i said, my original theme was USUK, but that didn't work for a lot of the songs, so I unintentionally ended up writing some history-themed Angsty stuff. Nothing too bad. (also, i do actually have a variety of music on my iPod, it's just really bad a shuffling adequately.) (also, if you want to see my sister's, I forced her to post it. Her user name is Rebylee, and it's her only story.)

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><p>10 song ficlet challenge<p>

**When two are one- Atreyu**

After Germany's army began attacking his island, England didn't know if he could hold out for long. Everyone had fallen to the powerful blond nation, how could he be an exception. Every bomb that fell was a blow to his already frail body. He needed help, possibly now more than ever. He tried screaming for aid, but everyone had fallen. America wouldn't come help him, would he? Just as he was about to give in, America was there (obviously yelling something about how the hero was there, no need to worry). The Brit never thought he would be happier to see anyone in his life. America grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him to his feet.

"Did you really think I'd abandon you? I said I'd stand by your side through whatever came." America smiled, before charging into the heat of battle.

**Don't tread on me – Metallica.**

America was struggling. The Articles of Confederation had failed miserably, and he really hadn't expected all the stress and responsibility that came with being an independent nation. It was getting better, though. That is until he got caught in an argument with England and France. He just wanted to be neutral, but that wasn't going to happen, was it? So he went to war with England. Again. He didn't want to, but he also didn't want the brit (or France, for that matter) to be able to walk all over him. He needed to prove to them that he was strong, even if he was young. And he would win no matter what.

**My friend of Misery – Metallica**

With all that was happening in the world, it was no surprise that America was as stressed as he was. Everyone could see it, though he pretended they couldn't, and carried on being the "hero" he thought he had to be. England couldn't stand it. America wanted to save the world, but he just couldn't. He couldn't fix all the world's problems, they both knew that. But they younger country felt he needed to. England wanted to help, he truly, honestly did. But he didn't know if he could pull America out of the trench of misery he'd fallen into. The American was irritable, and prone to rants (most of which involved him yelling that he needed to save the world, that he was the hero. However, most of these rants ended in him sobbing and clinging to England, saying over and over again that it was too hard and that he couldn't do it by himself). No one knew how to help him, and quite frankly, no one wanted to. Except England. He couldn't stand seeing his friend in such pain, and he knew what America was feeling. Misery tended to have that effect. Once it sprouted, it spread as far as it could reach. America's troubles were hurting everyone else.

**Architects – Rise Against**

His dumb little island. Silently England cursed it, cursed it for everyone mocking it, cursed them for hurting him, cursed them for locking him away in his own corner of the world. He could never be the powerful empire he had been. America always said that no one could stop you from doing anything. He always insisted that everyone had the right to build their own fates, they could create any world they wanted. Fondly, England remembered the much younger country claiming that he would burn any world where England was hurting. But could it be true? He couldn't find the faith to believe in himself as much as America believed in him.

**Slow Burn – Atreyu**

One by one his colonies left him, one by one he was left alone with nothing but a burning hole of loneliness growing in his heart. He knew it would kill him, his empire was gone. He was nothing. He was pathetic. He couldn't stand it. It was like a horrid acid trip, pain like this couldn't truly exist. He couldn't keep telling himself that it wasn't real, though. Because it was. His life was lies. Lies and betrayal. How could he go on? A glimmer of thought insisted that it was only as bad as he made it out to be.

**Sad but True – Metallica**

England glared at America standing against him. Had he not raised him? Had he not helped him? True, he'd caused him pain, but he'd also protected him with his very life. He owed as much of his success to America as America did to him. He could have never beat off the other countries economically if it were not for the constant supply of cotton America's southern states provided. They were each other's dreams, each other's pain, each other's only means of happiness. With a sigh, England realized, however sad it was, it was true. Though sometimes he hated the younger country, he always came back around. Maybe he didn't care that America had betrayed him. Maybe though he often felt like a puppet in America's hands, it was okay.

**Cancer – My Chemical Romance**

His eyes were sore from crying. He couldn't die, not so soon after he'd just found love. Cancer was such a cruel thing, wasn't it? America thought as he lie, confined to a stuffy hospital room. How could he be England's hero, anyone's hero if he was dead. More than ever he didn't want to see England. He didn't want to cause him any more pain than he had to.

**Ijime Dame Zettai (no more bullying) - Babymetal**

Alfred's heart truly did go out to the smaller blond boy with mesmerizingly green eyes who had been bullied relentlessly for as long as Al had known him. More than anything it made him hate people who could hurt someone so heartlessly, without a thought as to how they were making anyone else feel. Bullies had to be stopped, starting with the ones who were hurting Arthur. Al couldn't let them continue. Life had to be protected, yet every time anyone struck Arthur, Al wished he could splatter the boy's assailant's brains all over the floor. Did that make him a bully? He never acted on any of these thoughts (though he certainly would have liked to), but instead sought to end the bullying in a more heroic manner. Did befriending Arthur and standing between him and the bullies count as heroic? He certainly hoped it did.

**No one Cares – Atreyu**

"for the sake of my sanity, shut up," England muttered to America as the two of them walked through a beautifully landscaped park in the springtime.

"I would, but what does it matter anyway? You weren't listening." America retorted, a hint of bitterness tinging his words.

"I… I was…" England stuttered, but he knew he was lying. America could tell as well.

"No one listens to anyone anymore! Haven't you noticed? No one cares about anyone but themselves, and then if you're in pain you're left screaming at no one at, and even then, you're not listening to yourself or the cries around you. It's a cruel world…" America ranted.

**The Sound of Madness - Shinedown**

"MY GOSH, STOP COMPLAINING" England screamed in his mind as America ranted. The younger country couldn't possibly know what true pain felt like. He was so young. England had been there through the bloodiest battles in human history, he could perfectly recall the sound of the dying, the burn of madness that runs through your veins. Monsters that come in the night could never compare to the heat of the sun beating on dried blood and dead bodies that surround you. England knew his trials had been easy compared to others, but it was still no laughing matter.

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><p>(AN) so i had way too much fun doing this, so i'm going to post a series of them under this title, starting with this USUK one. I** can take suggestions for themes**, and honestly this is more for my own entertainment than for yours. but hey, if you like reading things like this then good for you/thanks/you're welcome. have a nice day!


	2. 2p Italy2p HRE

Songfic Challenge (again)

**Damage Inc. – Metallica**

Luciano grinned madly, looking at the mutilated bodies lying lifelessly around his feet. Blood still dripped from his hands; the knife had dropped to his feet. One of the voices in his head was laughing maniacally, while another cried pitifully. Still a third screamed that this was wrong, and asked why and how he'd gotten here. To be truthful, Luciano did know the answer. He just didn't want to say it. Being crazy just for the sake of being crazy was much more fun than having motivation. Claud was walking toward him, and Luciano bent down to grab the knife. He was stopped just as his hand touched the hilt. The Holy Roman Empire was hugging him, for no apparent reason.

"I know how you were hurt. Don't be ashamed."

**Home Sweet Home/Bittersweet Symphony – Limp Bizkit**

After he had been mercilessly resurrected by a magic-bearing country, The Holy Roman Empire trudged back to his old home, only to find it wasn't there. He cursed silently, he'd known that he had been dead for so long, but that was no excuse to destroy his home. He heard a shocked curse from behind him and heard the familiar whirring of a blade being unsheathed. He turned around to see Italy, his Italy, holding a sword to his chin. The Holy Roman Empire smiled, happy to see Italy. Maybe he had found home after all.

**Re-Education (Through Labor) - Rise Against**

The day Luciano realized that everything was hopeless, and that hurting people brought him joy was the day that he also realized that Claud, the Holy Roman Empire, was dead and was not, in fact, returning (like he promised). The fact that the bastard would even THINK about breaking a promise made Italy want to kill something, when he actually did break his promise Italy went crazy. He'd already been crazy, but waiting and dreaming (uselessly and pathetically) that Claud would come back finally snapped. He wouldn't crawl on his knees to the man, wouldn't cry another tear for him, Luciano was DONE. Perhaps he found release in hurting others, perhaps it was a transfer of his anger. Neither he nor anyone else could ever figure it out.

**Don't Trust Me – 3OH!3**

Being young and innocent was wonderful. Luciano had fallen deep and hard for Claud, despite his (much more refined) brother's warnings against the man. Claud was flighty, untrustworthy and conceited. Luciano's older brother kept saying that Claud would leave him, but Luciano would hear nothing of it. Claud loved him, didn't he? He always said so. He certainly knew how to show it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice echoed his brother's warnings. That voice only grew stronger as Luciano grew, until the day that Claud left and never came back.

**Flash – Queen**

"CLAUD! AH-AH, SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!" Claud sang at the top of his lungs, as he burst into Luciano's room.

Luciano groaned, the man was an idiot. A conceited, annoying idiot. Sometimes he wondered why he even kept him around; he certainly had the capability to get rid of him…

"CLAUD! AH-AH, HE'LL SAVE EVERY ONE OF US!" He continued to sing, clenching his fist as if it held a microphone.

But then again, if Flash Gordon couldn't be killed, maybe he couldn't kill Claud either. However, it would be for different reasons that Claud's life would be spared, Luciano admitted to himself as his boyfriend continued to make a complete fool of himself.


	3. GerIta

More songfics

**Battleflag – Lo Fidelity All Stars**

Germany never suspected that he would want to take over the world. The idea just hit him one day. He'd been utterly crushed in The Great War, and was ready to take on the world again, to prove just how strong Germany could be. He would make everyone fall to their knees. He could tell that he was making Italy worry, but that couldn't matter, he would make Italy proud. He would start a revolution, a revolution where everyone was better, a world where every person was as close to perfect as they could be. Italy was deeply disturbed, but he couldn't tell Germany, could he? He was Germany's only friend. He couldn't hurt him like that.

**Let it Go – Blue October (NOT the Disney one)**

Holy Rome sat lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. It had only been days since he'd last seen Chibitalia, but already he could feel his heart breaking. Where would he go now? Why did he feel this way? Why did he feel at all? It seemed too painful to be worth it, yet he knew it was. Why did he ever let her go?! He knew his heart would always beat for her, but how could be sure if she felt the same? How could even know if he would ever return? Tears welled in his eyes, he couldn't keep thinking this way, it would only break his already feeble heart even more.

**Awake My Soul – Mumford and Sons**

Germany didn't know what this feeling in his chest was every time he saw Italy. More than he didn't know what it was, he didn't want Italy to know. He would only hurt him if he knew his feelings. Germany knew that together they could overcome everything, but if Italy loved him (like he wanted him to) then all would fall apart and they would both end up hurt. Germany didn't trust himself in a relationship just yet, or probably ever. The more he recognized his growing feelings for the smaller country, the more he knew that he could only hurt him. Knowing this was the most painful secret he had ever kept.

**Feel Good Drag – Anberlin**

The personification of Germany didn't want to be close to anyone. Not particularly. It seemed that everyone was with someone else, and honestly, it looked like everyone was in more pain than he. He was doing pretty well. Until a night with just a little too much beer forced his mind to admit to itself that Feliciano, his only and best friend, was hot. He didn't object to the kisses they shared, nor anything that accompanied them. It was only in the morning that Germany questioned what had happened. He couldn't have done that with Italy, could he have?

**What the Water Gave Me – Florence and the Machine**

Where had all the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday he'd met his best friend and crush, Ludwig, the personification of Germany. But it had been longer than that. He was almost certain Ludwig returned his feelings, though he would never confront him about it. He was dozing, Germany sitting next to him. He leaned against his friend's shoulder, and smiled when Germany didn't push him away. He never wanted this moment to end, it was too perfect. The only sound was the quiet whistle of the wind through the trees, and the soft rustling of summer leaves. It was perfect.

He hadn't noticed that he'd fallen asleep until he felt strong hands laying him down in fresh, white sheets. Germany had carried him? Italy was truly blessed to have such a sweet, caring friend. Now the only sound was the overflow of love he felt for the blond German. And he was content as he again drifted off into a happy sleep.

**Wrong – Depeche Mode**

It always seemed like everything went wrong for Feliciano. He was always in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people, and he always ended up paying dearly for it. His brother always told him that he couldn't do anything right, that he would always be a failure. Was this true? He was starting to believe it, especially with how weak his military was and how bad he was at Ludwig's training exercises. It was starting to make him really depressed. The only thing he could do right was make pasta, and even then people got mad at him. Was there no escape?

**Crushcrushcrush – Paramore**

Italy was such a stalker. He would never leave him alone, and Germany could always feel his eyes on him. Italy kept saying that people were lying to him about something, his past maybe. It is true that Germany couldn't remember anything before Prussia took him in, but maybe that's where it started. So he pretended everything was okay, because even Italy wouldn't tell him anything about his past. Sometimes he wished the annoying Italian would just leave him alone, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, was it? He shrugged off the thought; maybe it was better to play Italy's game. It would certainly be better than being separated from him, however annoying he may be.

**Welcome Home (Sanitarium) – Metallica**

(HETAONI) No one can leave here, it's a madhouse. Time doesn't move correctly, often it stands completely still. Italy wasn't okay. He hadn't been okay since they had gotten there, and he wouldn't talk about it. The poor kid was driven half to insanity, possible all the way there. Germany couldn't stand to see him like this, but what could he do? He knew that every word of doubt anyone whispered assured Italy that he was insane; he was literally in a living hell. He just wanted to be left alone. And at the same time he didn't. He was so determined to win, to get everything right, to save every last one of his friends. The fire burned bright in his eyes, and it was all consuming. Germany knew that if they couldn't get out soon, Italy would be beyond the point of no return. It was all he could do to keep from breaking down and holding Italy against him, crying from hopelessness into the smaller boy's hair. What could they do?

**Ghost Town – Shiny Toy Guns**

Walking among the nations was like walking through a ghost town. Though their bodies were functioning, their spirits were dead. They'd died on a wasteland somewhere in the heat of battle, buried their emotions in the same wasteland. They were all screaming for help, crying out for someone to save them. Some found solace in the love of others, though it didn't always end well. Italy wanted to start over, to make everything right. He'd seen his share of pain, and wasn't happy with how everything in his life had turned out. He knew he was as dead inside as anyone else, yet he still wanted to be happy.

**Honor – Atreyu**

(HETAONI) he took his stance of defiance against the monster that had caused them all so much pain. He couldn't let that thing win. He wasn't holding back, he had nothing to lose. He would sacrifice himself if he could save Italy. That's all he truly wanted. He didn't care if he died; he just wanted Italy to live. He believed, even through all the pain, that there was a better tomorrow out there somewhere. So he would fight until the break of the new dawn. Fight until he died or they were free. It didn't even matter anymore. They'd all taken an oath together; they were brothers in arms against the shadows. They would destroy the dark. They would all get out together.

**Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen**

Could this be real? Or was it just his own fantasy? He was caught in a landslide of emotion, he couldn't escape it. Opening his eyes and looking up to the skies, he saw that he was helpless in this. Nothing quite mattered anymore.

"Prussia, I've killed someone. Not so much in a literal sense, but he's dead. I'm dead to him… I didn't mean to make him cry, but I don't think I can go on. If you don't see me tomorrow, carry on. It doesn't even matter anymore."

It was too late, his time had come, and he could feel it. He'd said his goodbyes, he had to leave and face the truth now.

Looking up, he screamed to the sun, "I don't want this!" tears streamed down his face; "Sometimes I wish I'd never been born at all…" he was just that much of a screw up. He'd broken Italy's heart. How could he go on?

He saw a silhouette of a man. Thunder filled his heart, was it Italy? This was just magnificent. Italy was just a poor innocent boy, he didn't deserve this. He needed to let Italy go, and Italy needed to let him go. Something told him that fate wouldn't let them go. Surely there was a devil set aside for him in Hell. Because that was surely where he was going.

"You can't just love me and leave me to die!" Italy screamed at him. "It doesn't work that way…"

"I know… Italy I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I can't ask you to take me back, can I?"

Italy's eyes were still clouded over with pain, but the corners of his mouth turned up. "Sure you can. Nothing really matters, anyway."

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><p>(AN) so. Bohemian Rhapsody came up and that happened. My sister face-palmed her way through it BUT IT'S BEAUTIFUL DON'T TRY TO ARGUE OTHERWISE. besides, what else would you do for that song? ANYWHO, if you've read this far, thanks, you're swell! I have a lot of fun writing these, you should try it and also look up these songs if you haven't heard them. they're all really good songs. also, i am taking suggestions for themes if you want to see anything in particular. thanks again, and have a nice day. :)


	4. PruCan

these ones turned out a lot more angsty than I wanted them to. oh well.

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><p>PruCan songfics<p>

**Now I'm Here – Queen**

No one saw Canada, he was the second largest country and no one could ever remember he existed. Even his own brother forgot from time to time. That is, until Prussia waltzed into his life. He knew Canada's name on sight, and never forgot him.

Prussia had been in a great deal of pain. Being the embodiment of Prussia was hard enough, but to stay alive he'd taken a gamble and become both the memory of the holocaust and communist East Germany. He'd begun to wonder if that was a good idea. He was about ready to give it all up when he met a boy who changed everything. Canada took away his pain, made it easier to bear, and he could genuinely forget himself and have a good time around the younger country.

_I'm a new man, _

_Yes you made me live again_

**Diary of Jane - Breaking Benjamin**

He never expected his country would dissolve. He was Prussia! He'd been the strongest military power for at least a century… how could this have happened? Silently he cursed everyone, his growing brother, his phony cousin, and his "caring" friends. Were they happy now?! He didn't have a place now. He needed to find his place in this world; he couldn't die now, could he? Desperate, he would crawl just to find a solution. Something to keep him alive. Death scared him more than anything. Everyone had turned from him. What was love? Love was a lie. No one actually loved anyone.

**Mama – My Chemical Romance**

He was going to hell. That much was certain. He'd hurt more people than he cared to admit, and killed many more than he could count. He was mortal now. His country was gone, he was going to die. All of the nations were liars. Horrible liars. He was the worst of all; he should have been a better son. If Papa Germania could see him now, he wouldn't be proud, to say the least. He couldn't help his brother, he'd gone and gotten himself killed… _Papa, we all go to Hell, don't we?_ _At least those of us who are lucky enough to die. It's a living hell and a hell awaiting us when we die. What kind of existence is this? _ The worst one anyone can be born into.

**Only Exception – Paramore**

He'd seen his father's successes, his failures. Seen him broken, seen him try fruitlessly to put himself back together. He'd seen his everyone around him cursed with the burden of caring, and from a young age he vowed that he wouldn't fall for love and it's lies. He'd always kept an emotional distance from everyone else, and accepted his own loneliness for what it was. He'd never expected to fall for the sweet, blond Canadian, but it'd happened. He slipped into Prussia's life and became his weakness, the only exception to his rule. And he found that he was fine with this. He was fine snuggled into the Canadian's arms at night.

_Oh, and I'm on my way to believing._

**Nothingtown – The Offspring**

Prussia was ready to burn his existence. He hated being a nation. He could tell everyone else did too. Sometimes at night he and Canada would plot the way that they could be heroes (like America always wanted to be) and burn the streets, sweep everyone off their feet and take them to a place where they could live in peace without the pressure of politics, economics, and wars. They would ride through the burning streets, lighters aflame, grinning, and burning down the horrible nothingness that had been their lives up to that point. They'd yell until everyone could hear it. But for now, they were both still stuck in Nothingtown.

**The Spirit of Radio – Rush**

"You know, this song is basically a summary of our life," Canada mentioned one morning as he busied himself making breakfast while Rush's _The Spirit of Radio_ played in the background.

"Yeah? How so?" Prussia challenged, still groggy from sleep.

"Well, the opening lines are, 'Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive'"

"Are you really calling me unobtrusive? And you know they're referring to music there, right?"

"Yeah, well maybe I'm applying it to people, and maybe I'm the unobtrusive one."

"Wow Birdie, that's almost praising yourself. I'm proud." Prussia smirked and kissed Canada on the cheek, who blushed profusely.

**Hold on to What You Believe – Mumford and Sons**

He couldn't make any promises. He couldn't promise that he wouldn't hurt Matthew, he couldn't promise that he wouldn't let him down, he couldn't promise that he would always be there to pick him back up when he fell. Matt was so young, growing up in this horrid, war-torn world. He couldn't bear to watch it most of the time. He wanted him to grow up happier than he had, but he knew that there already wasn't hope for that. So now he could just insist that Matt kept his childhood hopes up, regardless of how silly they may seem. Because if anything did go wrong, and he couldn't protect his birdie, then he wanted him to be safe. He wanted him to be secure. He wanted him to be okay. Often he knew this was asking a lot, considering the kind of existence they were leading. But he could still hope.


	5. FrUK

(A/N) This set if for TheBookAlchemist (I don't ship FrUK and I tried really hard to pretend I did to write these. Anyone reading, I'm sorry if the quality is bad)

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><p><strong>Ignorance – Paramore<strong>

France was in the heat of revolution. People had stopped bothering to clean the guillotines because they were used so frequently. Though he was wrapped up in the excitement of change, France still felt the pain of every death that occurred. And worse was the fact that everyone had turned against him. He'd expected Austria to, but when Spain and Prussia turned their backs, he was crushed. They wouldn't look his way, they wouldn't admit that he was a person (or a nation, but he was far too human for that qualification). Worst of all was England's rejection of him. He treated him like a complete stranger. He wanted to scream that he wasn't a stranger! Hadn't they been together through thick and thin, even if they'd been at odds more often than not? HADN'T THEY? France was hurt, broken, and the one person who could fix him refused to look at him.

**Pen & Paper – The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus**

Through the height of his Empire, England looked and acted like he was invincible. He was a Pirate, a Sorcerer and the most powerful empire in the world. France knew what that power tasted like, and he knew his lover would come crashing down eventually. Manipulation took its toll, and England wound up on his knees. France would have rejected him; part of him didn't want England to come crying to him because he was replaced in power by the very country he raised from childhood. But he couldn't help but take the green-eyed, bushy-eyebrowed country into his arms and comfort him the way he would a child. Sweetly and tenderly.

**Sail – AWOLNATION**

England hated being a nation. Maybe he could cry for help, maybe he should kill himself (he knew some would certainly be very happy if he did the latter). He was inadequate, and he knew that. The only one who couldn't seem to come to terms with that was that damned French frog. He always insisted that if they stayed together they could go after anything together. Come through any trial or hardship clean. England always had his doubts, he'd opposed the Frenchman enough in war that they both knew being a nation was messy work, but could it be true? Could staying with someone really help?

_Sail with me into the dark_

**Duck and Run – 3 Doors Down**

He wouldn't run from a fight. Everyone knew it. France always found himself in a war, whether it was by his own choice or the choice of another. Though some part of him hungered for blood, another eye looked on wondering why it cost so much to live. Why it hurt so much to live immortality. The world, though it tried, could never bring him down, though. He was already at the bottom. However, he didn't always tread through the mud. There was one who, through insult and furrowed brow, could make him smile in even the most dismal of circumstances. He couldn't lie, he also took part in the insulting, but they both knew neither meant it with their hearts.

**Undisclosed Desires – Muse**

England knew France had been through hell. He knew it, but he never, through all of history, could sympathize with just how much pain the flirtatious nation had been through. This very idea pained him. He wanted, more than anything, to exorcise the demons from France's past just as he would from any possessed soul. He wanted to assure France that his beauty wasn't just a mask. He wanted to reconcile the violence in his heart. He knew France was like fine China, beautiful and delicate to look at, but if tampered with, he would become sharp and lash out. However, he remained broken. Regardless of how much he tried to glue himself back together, the French nation could never heal. And England wanted to help more than anything.

**The Feel Again (Stay) – Blue October**

He could see the world moving around him, but it had lost its color. Everything that had once been so bright for him was fading. Why? Because his one love had left him. He'd apparently had enough, after America rebelled and dealing with turmoil at home, apparently England couldn't take it. So he'd taken Canada completely for himself (he couldn't even SEE the kid half the time!) and left France alone.

He wished he would have stayed.

France remembered, as if it was yesterday, their first kiss. The love had been so strong; he didn't think it would ever have crumbled. England made him feel at home, he still did. He never would have let go. He wanted to grab England, beg him to come back, come home, but he knew the ornery Briton would never agree.

_So take this heart of mine_

_You've taken it a hundred thousand times_

They should have stayed together. They could have. France knew with a surety that they could have made it work. Just looking into England's large green eyes was enough to melt his soul. They should never have let go.

**Falling Down – Atreyu**

Frog-Face was always making some big deal about how he didn't want any more revolutions, riots, or repeats of anything that had happened in his past. England couldn't stand him. France was FINE, and he was losing his empire. He was falling down, he was on his knees. He couldn't think. He felt as though someone had drilled a hole into his skull. He was coughing up the blood when France was there to help him to his feet, sweep his spilled brains under the rug. England found he needed this affection more than any other drug he could have used. He had fallen, was falling, but he'd shaken it off, thanks to that stupid Frog.

**Never Let me Go – Florence + The Machine**

He couldn't breathe. He was drowning, though he didn't feel the panic he was expecting. The moonlight glinted trough the top of the waves and shone down on his face. The arms of the ocean were coming up to gather him into their arms. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd tried to commit suicide.

Just as he was closing his eyes in defeat, an arm grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him abruptly to the surface. Air entered his lungs and he began to cough. "Bloody idiot, did you really think that would work? You know well enough we can't die!" England spat as he tentatively released his death-grip on the front of France's coat. Fear suddenly gripped the English nation, and he pulled the still-spluttering Frenchman against him. "I could have lost you. Don't ever do that to me again."

**Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen**

He wasn't ready to deal with the growing affection he felt for France. He was struggling as a country, he didn't need to worry about dealing with the butterflies he felt in his stomach every time he saw the Frenchman. They were at each other's throats enough to have killed each other by now if they were human, they didn't need to be at each other's throats in a different, more affectionate way. But love never lets any sane person have their way.

**Screaming Bloody Murder – Sum 41**

He only had himself to blame for not being his usual, flirtatious self these past days. Maybe it was because he finally realized he didn't have the patience to deal with "destiny" or angels. He wasn't an angel, as much as his partners insisted it. He could bleed; he did bleed, even if he couldn't die. The one person he cared about most was the one who hurt him most. He tore him open, watched him bleed with a satisfied smile of his face. They both knew it was their boss' fault. France knew that England wouldn't hurt him of his own free will, or at least, that's what he kept telling himself. These days were strange. He loved, he lost, and he bled. Just as much as everyone else.


End file.
